That We Would Become One

“Yes, it is Christ’s will that we become one with believers different from ourselves so the world would know God’s love and believe. As a by-product, society will be affected, ‘racial reconciliation’ will occur, and the church will be restored to a place of prominence in the minds and hearts of those outside its walls. Indeed, this is the power of unity. This is the Gospel of Christ.” – Mark Deymaz

With only a few hours left, Jesus asked the Father to empower us to be one, just as he is one with the Father. Not the same, but one.

The tapestry of ethnicities woven through every corner of the globe bears out a deeply beautiful resemblance of the One who purposefully created every thread in his image. In a well-intentioned pursuit of God’s design, we work hard to resist our natural inclination that leads us toward own corner of ever familiar people who are most like us, and instead, we try to surround ourselves with as much “diversity” as we can muster. Lots of different people in the same room “feels” like success.

Here’s the thing – the comfort enjoyed by a group of people who are the same is not “bad” in and of itself. There’s beauty in all that makes each ethnicity unique. There’s safety in being with people who are the like you. It feels good to be understood because it is good to be understood.

But the Gospel beckons us to take a good thing and allow for God to mold it into something better than good. Something perfect. Something that more resembles the Sculptor.

A culture of “multi ethnicity” is more than people from different backgrounds sharing the same space. It’s more than the absence of sameness. It’s the presence of oneness. Jesus didn’t pray that we would be the same – He prays that we would be one. And at the center of the call to be one is a willingness to be shaped by one another. A sustainable, ethnically inclusive community goes beyond merely “understanding and appreciating” one another and, instead, says I will allow myself to be changed by you as the Sculptor molds his more perfect Kingdom in us both.

If huddling with people who are the same as us is most comfortable, then maybe we’re called to a culture of discomfort. As we lean into the good thing God is molding when he shapes us through one another, something amazing happens – the tension of what was once discomfort becomes the only thing that is comfortable. In the years that I’ve been on this journey, though I have many miles to go, I’m finding that God has been reshaping my heart. Styles of worship, spoken narratives, and ways of engaging others that never resonated with me before are now central to my connection with God and others. And I would never go back.

But creating a culture of oneness across ethnicities does not happen by accident. It requires intentionality in recruiting and developing a team of leaders with different perspectives from different backgrounds. But how do we balance that intentionality against the need to fill positions with the “right” person? To me, it’s a matter of looking at things differently. Deymaz goes on to say that, “intentionality is the middle ground between quotas and wishful thinking.” That’s well said. We pray with intentionality. We seek the Kingdom God is molding in us with intentionality. We take bold steps with expectation. There’s no perfect recipe for this and no two situations are the same, but being purposeful in surrounding ourselves with people by whom we can be shaped is a powerful, unnerving step of faith.

Leading a diverse team comes with joys and challenges. On good days, we find ourselves uncomfortable and stretched (not necessarily fun). On bad days, we find ourselves frustrated and even angry (definitely not fun). But when we step back and look at what God is doing through it and the impact it has in his church, we begin to see that we are becoming more of who we were created to be. We are thriving in a new and unexpected way! When my contemplative nature is stretched by my more expressive brothers and sisters, I become more of who I was meant to be. Though it can be hard to part with my preferences and make room to be stretched, I see that God is doing something beautiful through it and the frustration slowly turns to hope – and the hope turns to joy.

Amazingly, as God continues to build His Kingdom of oneness, “[His] church [is being] be restored to a place of prominence in the minds and hearts of those outside its walls”.